The MP830 succeeded canons last all in one multifunctional inkjet printer, the MP780, in the company’s PIXMA series. First made available back in 2004, the MP830 brings in some new features over its MP780 counter part suitable for those looking to purchase a well featured all rounder for home or small office use. So what features should you be looking for in a typical office printer? Naturally you would expect a scanner/copier (has it), a fax (got it) and of course a printer (has that too). An all in one’s capabilities in all these areas is what sets manufacturers apart. So it follows, that you should know what features/capabilities to look for when selecting an all in one printer and whether those features will meet your needs.
Features
Out of box (and after noticing the polished black and silver finishing typical of canon printers), the MP830 is easy to setup on an apple Mac or windows PC after a quick glance at the easy setup instructions on the sheet that shipped with the printer. If you intend to print a lot of colored print jobs say for example photos on inkjet glossy photo paper, the MP830 can get the job done. It has a rated maximum resolution of up to 9600 x 2400 dpi in color thanks to Canon’s FINE (Full-Photolithography Inkjet Nozzle Engineering) technology; more than enough to produce detailed 24 bit true color prints. This however depends on your individual installation driver settings and the software you’re using for the task. In monochrome, the PIXMA MP830 will print up to a maximum resolution of 600 dpi.
The PIXMA MP830 includes a ‘Pictbridge’ port and a multimedia card slot as an added feature, which allows you to print photos directly from compatible cameras, camcorders and memory cards on the fly. It accepts Sony’s Memory stick pro duo cards, Smart media and Micro Drive cards. To help you with that, you can use the MP830’s 6.3cm color LCD screen to browse through your memory card, camera or camcorder for the files you would like to print without having to access your computer. Other features include push button scanning and copying with up to 400 percent zoom, scan-to-PDF, as well as photo editing and color correction included in the bundled software.
Performance
Aside from graphics and resolutions, speed in all the areas I mentioned earlier, is important as well. The PIXMA MP830 can churn out a maximum of 24 pages per minute in color, and 30 pages per minute in black and white; way above the acceptable minimum of 17 color pages per minute and for a small office/home office this will definitely do; though practically, its closer to about 3 pages per minute for full graphics on A4 size photo paper and 8 pages per minute for text on A4 paper. It also has a 35 page automatic duplexer with an automatic document feeder, used not only for printing but for scanning, faxing and copying double sided documents as well.
The MP830 can send a fax at a rated speed of 3 pages per second if connecting to a super G3 fax modem on the other end of the phone line. It comes with 100 coded speed dials and 8 one touch speed dials to store your frequent fax numbers.
The MP830’s scanner is a flat bed type, and has a maximum effective scanning width of 29.7 x 21 cm (A4). It has a maximum external bit depth set at 48 bits at a rated resolution of 2400 x 4800 dpi (optical) and up to 19200 x 19200 dpi (digital); this ensures that all the documents and photos you scan on the device will be in true color.
Unfortunately, the MP830 does not support Ethernet networking options or WiFi and may be a little bulky which may be an inconvenience in a small office setting, but it is a solid performer for its class.